Patriots’ Tyquan Thornton injury opens door for Nelson Agholor

Patriots’ wide receiver Tyquan Thornton will miss some time with a collarbone injury. Could Nelson Agholor take advantage of this? It was incredibly unfortunate to hear that Thornton could miss about eight weeks with a collarbone injury, but it happened, and the Patriots will have to adjust accordingly.

Thornton enjoyed a very good offseason up until this point.  He cemented his status on the roster and perhaps was pushing Agholor off the roster.  Nelson Agholor didn’t do anything wrong, but his underwhelming first year in New England, coupled with his hefty contract created a logical situation where the team could effectively replace Agholor on the depth chart with Tyquan Thornton.

To be fair to Nelson Agholor, he’s had a nice offseason himself.  He caught two passes for 52 yards in the Patriots’ last preseason game against the Panthers, including a long catch on the sidelines from Money Mac Jones.  With Thornton out for an extended period of time, I do think the Patriots now have a tough decision to make with Agholor.

It’s clear that the top three receivers on the team will be DeVante Parker, Jakobi Meyers, and Kendrick Bourne.  The question remains, though, who will be the fourth guy?  Tyquan Thornton looks the part, but his projected eight week absence will need to be filled somehow.

Agholor could easily hold that role down, but it doesn’t match up with the contract that he has.  Could a guy like Lil’Jordan Humphrey take over the fourth spot?  Right now, I don’t think there’s a clear answer, but Nelson Agholor does have a chance to again establish himself on the Patriots roster.  The Patriots figure to need as many quality offensive pieces as possible to give themselves a fighting chance in 2022.

Nelson Agholor is by no means an elite player, but he’s a quality option that looked to be heading off the roster.  With Tyquan Thornton’s injury, there could be a chance for Nelson Agholor to make the team.